Social Frailty Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Recommended Assessments and Implications

Hyuma Makizako; Kota Tsutsumimoto; Hiroyuki Shimada; Hidenori Arai

doi:10.4235/agmr.2018.22.1.3

HOME > Articles >

Ann Geriatr Med Res < Volume 22(1); 2018 < Articles

Ann Geriatr Med Res 2018; 22(1): 3-8 https://doi.org/10.4235/agmr.2018.22.1.3

Social Frailty Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Recommended Assessments and Implications

Hyuma Makizako¹, Kota Tsutsumimoto², Hiroyuki Shimada², Hidenori Arai²

¹Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, ²Center for Gerontology and Social Science, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan

Correspondence to: Hidenori Arai, MD, PhD
National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 7-430 Morioka-cho, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, Japan
Tel & Fax: +81-562-87-0115
E-mail: harai@ncgg.go.jp

Received: December 5, 2017; Revised: December 29, 2017; Accepted: January 5, 2018; Published online: March 31, 2018.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract: Even though social factors that determine frailty in older people contribute to adverse health outcomes, there is little consensus in terms of the definition of social frailty. Therefore, in this article we reviewed literature on social frailty and attempted to define the term. Although we found that living alone, social participation, economic hardship, and other such factors are associated with a decline in activities of daily living and increased risk of disability, we have not reached an agreement on either the most effective methods of assessing social frailty or the most effective interventional approaches to address social frailty. Further investigations are needed to define social frailty and identify effective interventions to promote active aging by focusing on the social aspects in older adults with social frailty. It would be reasonable to think that this approach will also improve physical and cognitive frailty.; Keywords: Health, Frailty, Aging, Activities of Daily Living